Work machines, such as excavators and tele-handlers, are often used to control an implement, such as a bucket, to perform a given task at a construction and/or mining worksite. For example, such implements may be used for a variety of tasks in which the implement engages with the ground. These tasks may include digging, hauling, excavating, or any other task in which the implement, or an associated component, engages the ground. Accordingly, such implements often include, or are coupled with, ground-engaging tools. Ground-engaging tools may be utilized to protect the implement from undue wear and/or to perform additional, ground-engaging functions.
For example, a bucket operatively associated with a machine (e.g., an excavator) may include a plurality of ground-engaging tools that are affixed to the bucket such as, but not limited to, teeth, shrouds, adapters, and the like. Because such ground-engaging tools may be exposed to greater contact and friction than the bucket itself, ground-engaging tools are typically removable from the bucket and may be replaced multiple times over the course of the life of the machine and/or bucket.
Accordingly, it is often desired to monitor or otherwise observe wear conditions associated with ground-engaging tools, so that a machine operator may know how worn various ground-engaging tools are. However, wear of a ground-engaging tool may not always be easily observable by a party associated with the machine and, accordingly, systems have been developed that can monitor wear of ground-engaging tools.
In some example systems for monitoring wear of components of machines, visual sensors are used to detect or confirm edges of said components and can compare them with a baseline measure for a new part. For example, the systems and methods of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0149049 (“Wear Part Monitoring”) utilize a visual sensor affixed to the bucket of an excavator to visually monitor dimensions of a wear part, wherein a change in such dimensions may be indicative of wear.
However, while the systems of the '049 application may, generally, determine wear of a wear part associated with a bucket, they do not address the effect that wear may have on machine productivity. Therefore, systems for monitoring wear of a ground-engaging tool of a machine, in relation to productivity of the machine, are desired.